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Freedom!
Strong-Arm Saguaro At Daylight Went for a 7.5 mile hike in the Tortolita Preserve (TP) this morning. I had to. The events in Europe are...
Mark L. Johnson
Mar 6, 20221 min read


TA Tidbits #35 Petitions, Owls & New Water Agency
Town Council Candidates Need More Signed Petitions Thanks to everyone who have signed the Non-Partisan Nomination Petitions for Patrick...
Mark L. Johnson
Feb 26, 20222 min read

TA Tidbits #34 Petitions & More
Meet The Change4Marana Candidates-Sign Petitions Patrick Cavanaugh, Mark Johnson and Tim Kosse are running for Marana Town Council as the...
Tortolita Alliance
Feb 16, 20222 min read


Mark 4 Marana Town Council Campaign
I first came to Marana in 1976 on a cross county RV adventure during my senior year in college. Having grown up in a coastal environment...
Mark L. Johnson
Feb 6, 20222 min read

Water Woes XIV-Pause On DAWS
The following serves as an update to the previously reported Marana Water Designated Assured Water Supply (DAWS) analysis. Remember DAWS...
Mark L. Johnson
Feb 1, 20222 min read


TA Tidbits #33 Elections & Reflections
Wild Burro-Alamo Springs Spur Hike (1/30/22) Wild Burro Upper Valley At Dawn Desert Spoon Making A Comeback Chuparosa-First Spring Wild...
Mark L. Johnson
Jan 30, 20221 min read

Water Woes XIII-Short-Term Drought Improvement
The Flats-Wild Mustang Trail Helpful Facts/Hints Blog Images-Just want to remind readers that you can click on any image (photo, graphic,...
Mark L. Johnson
Jan 13, 20222 min read

TP West & The Mound
Tortolita Preserve West Looking North & East Toward Dove Mountain From The Mound Happy New Year! Hiked the western portion of the...
Mark L. Johnson
Jan 11, 20221 min read

TA Tidbits #32-2021 Wrap Up
Night Watch Great Horned Owl keeps watch over the Tortolita Preserve! Tortolita Preserve-Trail Counter Update The Marana Parks &...
Mark L. Johnson
Dec 18, 20212 min read

Water Woes XII-Kyle Center Colorado River Shortage Interactive Story
The Kyle Center For Water Policy at Arizona State University's (ASU's) Morrison Institute has released an excellent interactive story...
Mark L. Johnson
Dec 11, 20211 min read


Water Woes XI More Cuts
New 500,000 AFY Colorado River Water Cut First it was the Interim Shortage Guidelines (2007), then the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP)...
Mark L. Johnson
Dec 6, 20212 min read


TA Tidbits #31 BioBlitz & More
Tortolita Preserve-Natural Resource Survey (BioBlitz) TA met with representatives from Marana Parks & Recreation (MPR), Arizona Game &...
Mark L. Johnson
Dec 4, 20212 min read


Dove Mountain Development Status November 2021
Tortolita Preserve At Sunrise Dove Mountain Development 101 In June 2021, TA published a Dove Mountain Development Status blog that...
Mark L. Johnson
Nov 17, 20213 min read

The Case Of The Missing HCP
Another Marana mystery is solved! This time its about wildlife and habitat. What the heck is an HCP? HCP is the acronym for Habitat...
Mark L. Johnson
Nov 14, 20213 min read

Water Woes X No Status Quo
Drought Status Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) Meeting via Microsoft Team on 11/10/21. LDIG is a...
Mark L. Johnson
Nov 10, 20213 min read

TA Tidbits #30 Grass, Planes & Trails
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."--Robert Frost Just back...
Mark L. Johnson
Nov 4, 20212 min read


TA Alert! Night Flight
Tortolita Alliance (TA) has heard recently from several residents in the Dove Mountain area about planes circling and buzzing at very...
Mark L. Johnson
Oct 21, 20211 min read


Trailblazers!
(L to R) Thom Rossa (TA Director), Dave Barker (TA Secretary), Chris Garrow (Trail Maintenance Crew Member), Mary Grodman (Natural...
Mark L. Johnson
Oct 21, 20211 min read

TA Tidbits # 29 Gone-Soon
Monsoon 2021 Remnants-Wild Burro Wash Monsoon season is gone ("Gone-Soon"). If Marana passes the half-cent sales tax, some of your hard...
Mark L. Johnson
Oct 17, 20212 min read

TA Alert! Santa Cruz River Cleanup No. 2 At Ina Road Bridge Canceled
Tortolita Alliance and Tucson Clean & Beautiful have canceled the Santa Cruz River Cleanup at the Ina Road Bridge Location on October 23,...
Mark L. Johnson
Oct 12, 20211 min read
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